Whether as a recreational-sports instrument or as an everyday vehicle, this wonderful invention is the absolute protagonist of our days. Do you want to know why?
If we have been able to verify something throughout this hectic month of November in Bikefriendly Group The fact is that the bicycle is not a passing fad, as some sectors try to make us believe. The bicycle has returned – it never really left – to remain one of the most dynamic instruments of today's society.
2017, International Year of Sustainable Tourism, has had one of its main protagonists on the bicycle, especially in those territories that have decided to opt for an economic development model that respects the environment, de-seasonalizes and generates wealth. The results can already be felt in many of these associations, provinces and autonomous communities, and will be much more visible throughout next 2018.This is what we confirmed in the latest edition of INTUR, the International Inland Tourism Fair, held from November 23 to 26 in Valladolid, where we were present for the first time with our own stand. The numerous meetings held throughout the four days with public organizations and companies, as well as the Cycle Tourism Day that we organized for the 24th confirmed our expectations and, even, these were exceeded by many other requests for collaboration to make the bicycle the backbone agent of the tourist offer of numerous territories. And the data is there: In the province of Huesca alone, mountain biking already generates more than 85.000 overnight stays each year.
But the bicycle, by itself, does not constitute the magic wand of cycling success: public-private collaboration and innovation are essential tools to find these alternative paths of sustainable economic development. We also found a good example of this this month of November in the Alicante municipality of Villena, where, from November 20 to 24, the Business Meetings In-Key of Innovation, where we had the pleasure of participating as experts in strategic planning and territory development. A few days before, November 16 and 17, we were present as a sponsoring entity and speaker at the Congress Challenges and Challenges of Local Development, held at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid, where we try to contribute our extensive experience in territorial specialization strategies and share different points of view on the matter, with some of the greatest experts in this field at the national level.
And municipalities, especially large cities, have before them the major challenge of providing a better quality of life, more health, to their inhabitants. And that is where the bicycle is becoming the instrument of change. In it Smart City Expo World Congress, celebrated on Barcelona From November 14 to 16, urban mobility was one of the topics treaties. Under the motto 'collectivize urban power', representatives from cities around the world reflected on how to improve urban mobility and at the same time reduce congestion, accidents and pollution through the exchange of good practices and collaborative work.To define new sustainable urban mobility systems that place the pedestrian and cyclist at the center, The collection of massive data or Big Data -Techfriendly, the technological division of Bikefriendly Group, works in this field- can allow direct and participatory management of the local cycling community to design and execute different urban cycling projects such as, for example, deciding which sections of cycle paths should be prioritized or providing more parking spaces in certain areas of the city.
Society is also accompanying and promoting these types of changes. According to the data of the Bicycle Barometer in Spain 2017, this vehicle has won 3,5 million users since 2009, and academic and university research on the bicycle as a means of transportation continues to increase. The bicycle... fad? We don't believe it.
